


How I Met Your Father

by therunawaypen



Series: 00Q Tumblr Prompt Fills [34]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies), Skyfall (2012) - Fandom
Genre: Anniversary, Fake Character Death, First Meetings, M/M, Skyfall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-30
Updated: 2013-10-30
Packaged: 2017-12-30 23:57:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1024917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therunawaypen/pseuds/therunawaypen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James and Q have been married a long time, and they've raised five children.</p><p>So how did they meet? And how did Q become Q and how did he react to James being a 00 agent?</p>
            </blockquote>





	How I Met Your Father

**Author's Note:**

> "Prompt!! Andrew and charmaine ask james how he and Q met, in a conference/recruiting talk/carrier day that James’ (fresh out of academy) platoon gave at Q’s school (Q is a senior) Parallel monique and the twins ask Q how he found out james worked for MI6 and was 007 (when Q was designated Q and gave them James file to debrief him) Xoxo tam!" —slytherindoctorsat221b
> 
> "I usually don’t do requests but here is one for ya in the ‘Meet the Bond’ verse…. In Skyfall James fakes his death and disappears for months before returning to MI6 and finding out about the new Q. According to your verse they met when Janes was still in the Navy so… How does his family take to faking his death and the resurrection?" —malakia215

“Happy anniversary, Papa.” Andrew smiled softly, swirling his glass of red wine leisurely as he relaxed in his armchair while his younger sister sat on the couch.

James chuckled, “Thank you Andrew. And thank you both for helping with such a wonderful dinner.”

It had been a real treat for James and Q: all the children had come home to prepare a three course family meal. Not exactly an easy task when all the children were out of the house (or almost out of the house, in Charmain’s case) and had hectic lives with MI6. Which made it all the more special.

“I can’t believe you two have been married this long.” Charmain smiled, “Most couples split after the Honeymoon stage wears off.”

“Yeah, well your Dad and I have weathered some serious storms.” James nodded, taking a drink of his scotch.

Andrew chuckled softly, “Of course, what I want to know is how this incredible love story between a 00 agent and his Quartermaster even began.”

“Well it didn’t begin with us working for MI6.” James smirked, “We got married pretty young. I think we told this story to Monique and the twins, but you haven’t heard it yet.”

“We wouldn’t ask if we already knew, Papa.” Charmain teased.

“True,” James laughed, “So let me tell you how I met your father.”

* * *

 

James hated doing recruitment tours at schools. Not because he didn’t want others to join the Navy, oh no, he loved the Navy and the purpose it had given him.

He just hated having to deal with a bunch of braindead students who didn’t give a damn about what the military did, or worse, thought they were somehow morally superior than those who were in the military.

But he had a duty to do, so he stood at attention when he wasn’t speaking about his time in the academy or answering questions (which ranged from the genuinely curious to the downright disrespectful). He couldn’t wait to leave the school.

“Lieutenant Bond will be here to answer any further questions.” The teacher reminded the class, “You are dismissed.”

Most of the students couldn’t get out of the classroom fast enough. A few stayed behind to ask some questions (these were the ones James really did want to talk to).

Though there was one kid that caught his eye. He wasn’t as well put together as the other kids in this private school: his jacket was too big on him, and his hair was a mess. His glasses were big too, which gave the aura of computer nerd. Of course, this was only confirmed when another student passed their phone to the glasses kid. Without much effort, the student had opened the phone and had started tinkering with it before closing it and handing it back to the student.

So the kid was very smart.

“Thanks for the presentation.” He nodded, hefting his messenger bag onto his shoulder.

“You sure you don’t want to join the Navy?” James found himself asking  before he could help himself.

The kid raised an eyebrow, “I’m not exactly military stock.” He chuckled, gesturing to his build.

“Not everyone in the Navy works combat.” James nodded, “There is a lot of opportunities in Intelligence.”

The kid was smiling now, “Thanks, but I don’t think I could wear that uniform as well as you do.”

James hadn’t been expecting _that_. And apparently, the kid found it amusing, “What? No one ever told you that you looked attractive before?”

“Not quite like that.” James shook his head.

The student nodded, watching him carefully, “…Are you always this charming?”

“Was I supposed to be?” James raised an eyebrow, “I apologize.”

The kid smirked, sticking out his hand, “Name’s Quinn. Just Quinn.” At James’s curious look, he shrugged, “Foster systems these days.”

James chuckled, shaking the kid, Quinn’s, hand, “Bond, James Bond.”

* * *

 

“You know, it must be really hard to keep a marriage going when you both work for MI6.”  Monique nodded, lighting the crème brûlée torch.

Q chuckled softly, clearing off the table, “Trust me, it was harder when it was just James in MI6.”

“Should Mo be handling the torch?” Jonathan looked at his sister warily, “Or any open flame?”

“I’m a 00 agent, John. I think I can handle a little fire.” Monique rolled her eyes, finishing the crème brûlées. “But Dad, how did you react when you discovered Dad was an agent?”

Q stopped what he was doing, looking down at his hands, “You remember when you were younger, and we thought Papa…we thought he was dead?”

Greg nodded slowly, “A little…man, Andy was just a toddler and Charlie wasn’t even born yet…”

“Yeah…well, I was in a dark place at the time.”

* * *

 

What was he supposed to do without James? How many mornings had Quinn asked himself that when he woke up to see an empty place on the other side of the bed?  How could he explain to his children, _their children_ , that their papa would never come home…when he didn’t even know what happened?

 _Work accident_ , they told him. If it was an accident, why didn’t they have James’s body? Why wouldn’t they answer his questions?

There was a part of Quinn, a part that he tried to keep buried deep down, that suspected that his husband had been lying to him about what he did. Nothing was making any sense.

Then Olivia Mansfield began to make appearances in his life. Told him that she had seen the work he had down with his engineering, and commended him on the intelligence work he had done for the country. It all seemed off: she _knew_ things she shouldn’t have known.

Then the bombshell: she worked for MI6, she was the _head_ of MI6, and she wanted him to come work for her.

“You are one of the best, Mr. Bond.” She told him, “We need the best.”

The offer was too good to refuse. He couldn’t go on being Quinn Bond, a widower trying to feed four children on a single income. He couldn’t even go back to being simply Quinn, not after all the ways James had changed his life.

But he could learn to be Q. It was easier than he ever thought possible, it came so naturally to him. Q branch, the technology, the weapons, it all made _sense._

“We need you to debrief one of our 00 agents.” M told him one day, handing him a file, “007 has been off the grid for a few months, which is why you have not met him. We need you to meet him at this location.”

Q nodded, opening the file to examine the agent information.

Only to nearly drop it when he saw his husband’s picture on the front page. He could see it clearly, in bold letters: **AGENT 007- JAMES BOND.**

“It it’s any consolation, we believed he was dead as well.” M sighed from her desk.

He could feel his hands shaking, his eyes filling with tears, “How long…how long has he been…”

“Working for us?” M shook her head, “More than a decade, Quartermaster.”

So a majority of their marriage…probably since James left the Navy…

Q was torn the entire time he made his way to the art museum. On one hand, he was devastated that so much of his marriage to James had been based on a lie, he wasn’t how he could trust him again.

But on the other hand…James was alive…

He nearly burst into tears when he saw him sitting in front of a painting. It was like the past few months hadn’t happened, that they were just a bad dream…

But now Q knew, he knew _everything_ , all the pieces of the puzzle. And as he took his seat next to James, he knew that things would never be the same.

* * *

 

“I still can’t believe you forgave him.” John shook his head, “Over a decade of lies.”

“They weren’t his secrets to tell, John, you know that.” Q chuckled, taking a bite of crème brûlée, “It may seem so easy now that the whole family is involved in this, but back then, your Papa couldn’t have told us anything.”

“Which is why I kept my dating pool to within the agency.” Monique nodded, “And 009 turned out to be a keeper.”

Q chuckled, “00 agents make better spouses than people would think.” He smiled, looking through the doorway into the living room, where James sat with Andrew and Charmain.

As if sensing eyes on him, James looked up, meeting Q’s gaze. They shared a small smile. Deep down, Q knew that all the heartache they had gone through over the years, moments like these made it all worth it.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I love writing the kids as adults, especially Andrew for some reason. He's one classy, suave son of a bitch. I can't wait to write something for him.


End file.
